From Slam! Sports Hockey <http://www.slam.ca/Hockey/home.html>...

Jordin Tootoo settles in Predators' camp

By DONNA SPENCER -- Canadian Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CP) -- For a fourth-round NHL draft pick, Jordin
Tootoo has generated a lot of ink and video this year.

Major media outlets travelled to nearly the top of the world this
summer to profile the barrel-chested Inuit kid who skates like
lighting, hits like a load of lumber and heaves harpoons into beluga
whales.

First it was USA Today, then it was Sports Illustrated and then it
was CTV seeking Tootoo out in his hometown of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut,
which is 1,770 kilometres north of Winnipeg, just south of the
Arctic Circle, with a mostly-Inuit population of about 2,500.

The combination of his pinball style of hockey and his unique
lifestyle has proved an irresistible story. Tootoo, 20, has been
able to draw attention to northern communities and the Inuit culture
with the extensive media coverage.

Tootoo hopes the chapters he adds to his story now include the NHL.
He will skate with the Nashville Predators rookies on Wednesday
before the veterans report on Thursday.

"I think it's time that I proved to everyone why all this hype's
been going on about me," Tootoo said at the Predators' practice rink
Tuesday evening. "I just want to play hockey now and prove to people
why everyone's so excited about me."

He didn't tire of the steady stream of cameras and microphones at
his door earlier in the summer.

"Here I am in Nashville, trying out for the Preds and this is
something I've been waiting for a long time and by having a lot of
these (media) people around killed a lot of time for me," he said.

"At the same time I spent quality time with my parents, my sister
Corinne and I can't wait to see them at my first professional game."

The five-foot-nine, 197-pound right-winger has a good chance of
cracking the Predators' lineup, but he will have to earn it. The
Predators, who drafted Tootoo 98th overall in 2001, signed him to a
three-year contract in May.

"This is another step in my journey," he said. "I know for a fact
I'll be playing pro this year either here or in Milwaukee.

Tootoo skates fast, hits hard and has a hard shot, but his size
makes him an underdog.

"At this age I think it's a perfect time for me to step into the
NHL and prove to a lot of people that you don't have to be six-foot-
five to play in the NHL," he said.

Nashville's climate is stifling compared to the average
temperatures in his hometown, but Tootoo hopes to stay in the steamy
southeastern U.S. and become the first Inuk to play in an NHL game.

The Predators open the 2003-04 regular season game Oct. 9 at home
against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. More than a few of his neighbours
would fly thousands of kilometres to see it if Tootoo is in it.

"I get phone call almost every day asking me if I'm playing in that
game," he said.

Tootoo is proud of his heritage and promotes it with every third or
fourth sentence. He has a flair for dropping attention-grabbing
tidbits such as "eating all that raw meat has made me wacko" and the
thing is, he really has eaten a lot of raw meat.

"People are so fascinated by it that it puzzles me sometimes,"
Tootoo said. "I give myself thumbs up educating at least someone
every other day."

Tootoo, whose father Barney is Inuk and whose mother Rose is
Ukrainian, had been a hero in the Inuit community and also in
Brandon, Man., where he played junior hockey for a long time, but he
rose to national prominence in Canada over the last year for reasons
both happy and tragic.

His brother Terance, a 22-year-old minor pro player, committed
suicide just over a year ago after he was charged with impaired
driving.

The brothers were close, "like peanut butter and jam" as his junior
coach put it.

In spite of the tragedy, Tootoo had the best season of his career
with the Brandon Wheat Kings and last spring, he attained the
ultimate in sports pop culture recognition when the Wheat Kings
distributed Tootoo bobblehead dolls at a game.

At the world junior hockey championship in Halifax, he was a fan
favourite on the Canadian team for knocking opposing players down
like bowing pins. The thousands of fans there called his name any
time he stepped on the ice.

The Predators could stand some of that. Plant Tootoo in the Music
City where ice hockey was unheard of until a few years ago and where
new fans are looking for something to latch onto after five years
out of the post-season and look out. There's the potential for him
to be the fan favourite again.

"It's a great place to play hockey in my mind," said Tootoo. "The
fans are starting to get into it and no better place to start off,
for me to come to a young team and excite the fans and get more
people into it, is something I love doing."

The Predators understand the appeal of Tootoo. He is one of about
five Predators scheduled to be on the team's flagship radio station
Wednesday afternoon, promoting the upcoming season.